Patna will get India’s first Victim Rights Centre, a new initiative aimed at providing support to victims of crime under one roof.
The Centre will be inaugurated by Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant at the Bihar State Legal Services Authority in Patna today.
The Centre is a pilot project of the Bihar State Legal Services Authority. It will work as a single-window system where victims can get information about their legal rights and access different support services without having to visit multiple offices.
The idea is to ensure that a victim does not have to repeatedly explain the same case to different authorities.
Once a victim approaches the Centre, the case will be registered and given a Victim Case Number. A single case record will then be maintained. The Centre will assess the victim’s legal, medical, financial, psychological, protection and rehabilitation needs.
Legal assistance will be provided from the stage of filing an FIR to bail, trial, sentencing and appeal. Help will also be provided for compensation applications, emergency medical treatment and witness protection.
The Centre will also provide psychological support, counselling and court companionship. In cases where long-term support is required, it will help victims with shelter, education, skill training, livelihood opportunities and access to government welfare schemes.
A key feature of the Centre is that every step will have a fixed timeline. A panel lawyer will be assigned within 48 hours, while counsellors and case workers will be assigned wherever required.
The Centre will not directly provide compensation. Instead, it will coordinate with the police, hospitals, One Stop Centres, Child Welfare Committees and different government departments to ensure that the benefits and assistance available under law actually reach the victim.
The Centre will also focus on what it calls “victims of circumstances”.
This includes families of sole earning members who have been in jail as undertrials for a long period. It also includes people who are acquitted after spending years in detention.
According to the project, such families can face serious financial and social difficulties even though they may not be victims of any particular crime. The Centre will maintain a separate record of such cases and assist them.
The project will initially run as a 12-month pilot in Patna district. Its performance will be assessed before it is extended to other districts through the District Legal Services Authorities.
The Centre has been proposed by advocate Shama Sinha and will function using the existing infrastructure and resources of the Bihar State Legal Services Authority. It does not require a new law or a separate statutory body.
A Transgender Helpline will also be launched during the September 26 programme. A fleet of Multi Utility Vehicles will also be flagged off, while a publication detailing the Centre’s scheme and standard operating procedure will be released.
